Going to see the Broadway production of “Chicago,” I was expecting the same pizzazz and “razzle dazzle” as the 2002 movie production. Unfortunately, the Broadway musical left me feeling slightly disappointed and underwhelmed.
Prior to the trip to New York on Nov. 22, I watched the movie, excited about being able to see the musical the next day. The musical, however, lacked much of what I was most excited to see.
In the musical, there are no scenery changes, which makes it difficult to envision the transitions between scenes. Throughout the entire production, the orchestra takes up 90 percent of the stage at the Ambassador Theatre. When I first saw the orchestra onstage, I thought it was going to be more of an accessory, since some scenes do take place in a jazz nightclub, but it remained planted in the center of the stage the entire two and a half hours of the show.
The only additions to the scenery were chairs in the dimly lit part of the stage where cast members sat, and in Act II some confetti and wall of streamers coming down from the catwalk. The confetti came falling down and sparkling down onto the stage during the song “Razzle Dazzle” and the wall of streamers served as the background during the final song, “Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag.”
If the audience was not familiar with the movie version, it may have been confusing with the lack of scenery changes as well. A majority of the production happens in jail but the only indication they give you of that, minus the storyline itself, was the shadows of bars on the floor of the stage. Not even during the popular Act I performance of “Cell Block Tango” did they have any jail cells—the only props that were used were chairs that the six main murderesses dance on throughout the song.
Another disappointing aspect of the production was that there was hardly any costume changes, except for the occasional addition of a jacket or gloves. Throughout most of the production, the cast members don sheer black clothing. The costumes were sparkly and added to the atmosphere of the jazzy ‘20s, but it would have been more transitional had there been more of a presence of costume changes.
In Carmen Ruby Floyd’s (Matron “Mama” Morton) number “When You’re Good To Mama,” she wears the same black suit as she does when she is first introduced at the jail, despite that number being a fantasy sequence. In the movie, the character wears a glittering gold gown in a completely different setting.
It was also a bit strange to me that some cast members were used in other roles after having been established as key players. Brian O’Brien, who plays Fred Casely, is murdered by Bianca Marroquin’s character Roxie Hart in the first song of the production but is then used only scenes later as part of the dance company. Another instance of this was Hunyak (Tonya Wathen), one of the six murderesses who turns out to be innocent. In her scene where she is wrongfully executed, she is hung through the illusion of a disappearing act. After she “disappears,” she appears minutes later in the next song as a dancer.
Some of the most standout moments, surprisingly, were those that were comedic and witty. In the showy number “Razzle Dazzle” when the court is deciding Roxie’s fate, the jury—who is played by one person (Michael Scirrotto)—adds some laughs as he appears to be intoxicated and stirs up trouble as he reaches out to Roxie in his drunken state.
Most of what happens with Raymond Bokhour’s character Amos Hart aims to have the audience feeling remorse and pity for him. It is done in a way that still makes him funny though. His foolish persona makes you feel both sorry for his character and laugh at the same time especially as he ends his performance of “Mr. Cellophane” with, “hope I didn’t take up too much of your time.”
A funny, if not most shocking, part of the production was Mary Sunshine (R. Lowe), a newspaper reporter who follows the trials of many inmates. In the number, “We Both Reached For the Gun,” the news reporters act as puppets, controlled by the stories of Billy Flynn (Christopher Fitzgerald), the exceptional lawyer, as they question Roxie about the night she killed Fred Casely. Later in the production, it is revealed that Mary Sunshine is not exactly as she appears—it turns out that Mary Sunshine is a man dressed in drag.
Another arresting point of the production was the choreography. Intricate choreography can be seen in almost all of the numbers and, at least for the women, is done in heels. The two main characters, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly (Amra-Faye Wright) have a lot of dancing to do the entire time, as does the rest of the cast. Billy Flynn also has to dance his way out of a few situations as crimes and troubles unfold.
The two main cast members, Marroquin and Wright, didn’t seem to have as forceful of voices as Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones did in the movie. Their voices were much more subdued in certain numbers—not as powerful as you might imagine. The two were a dynamic duo onstage and displayed greatness in their numbers.
The best part of the show was the way the cast interacted with the audience. As the show resumes in Act II, Marroquin comes out to the orchestra, holding the newspaper headlined “Roxie Rocks Chicago!” She holds it up for the audience to see, asking them if everyone can see it, then proceeds to hand it to the conductor to read while she takes on conducting the music. That’s an aspect that you really would not be able to get in a movie, so the moments of interaction among cast and audience were nice to see.
The movie version of “Chicago” is more memorable and flashy than the Broadway production. The Broadway version ended with an overall feeling of disappointment, wishing that “all that jazz” had been a little more present.
@erica_abbott
